Officer Takes In Children After Killing

DELRAY BEACH -- Police Sgt. Matthew ``Bump`` Mitchell has raised three children. But at age 51, he says he is prepared to bring up three more.

Mitchell, head of the Delray Beach Police Department Juvenile Division, has taken into his home the three children of a woman who police said was shot to death by her husband on Sunday.

He has asked the state Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services to grant him temporary custody of the children until a permanent home can be found.

If necessary, Mitchell said, he is willing to provide the permanent home.

``I have no problem with that,`` Mitchell said. ``The state will make that decision. Whatever the outcome will be, I`m certain it will be best for the family.``

Temporary custody of the children will be decided at a hearing in juvenile court today, he said.

The children, ages 10, 11 and 14, were at home in Carver Estates on Sunday night when their father, Thomas Willis, shot and killed their mother, Mary, police said. Seconds later, Thomas Willis turned the gun on his stepdaughter, Patricia Bradley, police said.

Bradley, 16, was in critical but stable condition at Delray Comunity Hospital on Monday. She told police that her stepfather shot her and her mother during an argument, police said.

At least one of the children, 10-year-old Brenda Willis, witnessed the violence, police said. The girl stood crying over her mother`s body minutes after the shooting and pleaded to neighbor Dorothy Grover for help.

``She asked me to wake her momma up, to please get her momma up,`` Grover said.

The other two children, 14-year-old Tommy and 11-year-old Jennifer, ``stood there in a state of shock,`` Grover said.

``She said, `My daddy came out of the bedroom and shot my mommy. The he shot my sister,``` Brand said. ``She was very excited. We only asked her a couple of questions.``

Thomas Willis, 47, a deliveryman for Ocean City Lumber in Delray Beach, surrendered to police Sunday night. He was held without bail on Monday in the Palm Beach County Jail.

Mitchell, well known in Delray Beach for his activities with children, is pastor of the Christ Missionary Baptist Church, which the Willis family has attended for years.

He said he saw the Willis family, except the father, in church Sunday morning. The children returned for Sunday School that afternoon, he said.

After the shooting on Sunday evening, Mitchell was called to the family`s apartment in Building G at Carver Estates, where they have lived for eight years. When no other family could be found, he took the children in.

``We`re doing what any Christian family would do in a situation like this,`` Mitchell said. ``We`re trying to make sure this family stays together.

``If we`re not careful, it can be more damaging to keep moving them from one strange place to another strange place.``

Mitchell said he will not personally ask for custody, but has requested that HRS recommend that he keep the children. HRS officials could not be reached on Monday evening.

The children were in good spirits on Monday morning, Mitchell said. Friends from church came to the Mitchell house on Monday afternoon to play.

``At least for those two or three hours, their minds were relieved,`` Mitchell said. ``They were running and jumping and playing.``

The three were expected to return to school this morning.

``What we`re trying to accomplish is, as quickly as possible, get them back into the mainstream,`` Mitchell said. ``We have to keep them doing the things they are used to doing. If not, they will dwell on the incident. And that`s not good.``

Mitchell said he will keep the children ``as long as it takes`` to find a permanent home. But if one cannot be found, Mitchell said he will adopt the children.

Although he and his wife are past the age most couples start a new family, they are willing to take on the challenge, Mitchell said.

``It`s only (a problem) if you have a 51-year-old mind,`` Mitchell said. ``We feel having the right attitude and love makes up for it all.``